Northwest History. China 1. Army.

Helpless China.
On paper, the armies reported as on the
move in central China appear very impressive—the armies of both the Nanking and
the Cantonese governments. We read of
100,000 in one place, 250,000 in another, 150,000 in a third, and so on apparently
without end. If these forces could be united, through some outburst of patriotism, it
would seem that the Japanese should have
difficulty in pushing their control into central China, which appears to be their next objective.
But unfortunately for that area, nearly
all of the great cities are built on the banks
of the Yangtse river, and the Yangtse is
navigable, even for warships, for hundreds
of miles.
If Japan decides to subdue central China
by force, and there is successful opposition
to a cross-country march of troops from
the valley of the Yellow river in the north,
Japan's battle fleet will steam up the
Yangtse and that will be the end of the
matter. No country could stand to witness
the destruction in rapid succession of its pricipal cities -- unstrategically located on the river bank and left without protection from a modern battle fleet.

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Helpless China.
On paper, the armies reported as on the
move in central China appear very impressive—the armies of both the Nanking and
the Cantonese governments. We read of
100,000 in one place, 250,000 in another, 150,000 in a third, and so on apparently
without end. If these forces could be united, through some outburst of patriotism, it
would seem that the Japanese should have
difficulty in pushing their control into central China, which appears to be their next objective.
But unfortunately for that area, nearly
all of the great cities are built on the banks
of the Yangtse river, and the Yangtse is
navigable, even for warships, for hundreds
of miles.
If Japan decides to subdue central China
by force, and there is successful opposition
to a cross-country march of troops from
the valley of the Yellow river in the north,
Japan's battle fleet will steam up the
Yangtse and that will be the end of the
matter. No country could stand to witness
the destruction in rapid succession of its pricipal cities -- unstrategically located on the river bank and left without protection from a modern battle fleet.